Thursday 27 February 2014

Modern Fansub Techniques (2) :- Another, more recent, alternative with the growing availability and usage of .tsraws is translation from Japanese closed captions. The closed captions can be exported from the .ts raw into various formats, and most fansub groups use a program called C-Catsto accomplish it. This method often results in a fast, yet still fairly accurate translation due to greater ease of translating text to text, rather than audio to text. This method, however, is not as widespread, as it is still not commonplace to have a .ts raw for a show. In addition, not all .ts raws have the closed captions in them, as some raw providers remove the captions, and some Japanese broadcasting stations do not broadcast with closed captions. Groups that use closed captions from a .ts raw use the audio to verify the closed caption translation, as it cannot be guaranteed that the closed captions are flawless.[ citation needed] Timing can take place before or after translation, and currently Aegisubis the most popular program for this process. Many groups will "pre-time" before the translation is done, then upon completion of the translation, apply the translation to the timed lines, while at the same time doing what is called "fine timing." Fine timing often involves applying "scene timing," which is a process whereby a line's start or end point is made to correspond with a nearby scene change. This prevents "scene bleeds," which occur when every line has the same lead-in or lead-out time, resulting in some lines starting before or after a scene change. The next process is to typeset both the text or other parts of the video which have been translated (signs, cellphone screens, etc.). Many groups make viewing easier and more organized by utilizing different colors and/or styles for different conditions that the current line is under. In this way, viewers can differentiate between, for example, speech by an on-screen character, speech by an off-screen character, thoughts, announcements (e.g. train boarding notices), or any other conditions which may require differentiation. Many groups use AFX, which is the process of typesetting signs or other on-screen text onto the video such that they blend in seamlessly with or on top of the original Japanese ones. Due to the limitations of softsubs, AFX is usually encoded directly into the video. Many groups who either do not have skilled typesetters or are attempting to release as fast as possible will often just put up another subtitle line (usually at the top of the screen) with the translation of the on-screen text (e.g. "Sign: John's Pub"). Editing takes place any time after the translation has been completed. Most translators are more proficient in Japanese than they are in English, and as such their translations are often ambiguous or grammatically incorrect. It is the editor's job to make the subtitles as easily understandable to a native English speaker as the Japanese audio would be to a native Japanese speaker, while still retaining as much of the original meaning as possible. Different groups have different guidelines for editing. Some insist upon keeping as literal subtitles as possible, thus the editor would merely fix spelling and grammar mistakes, while other groups are more liberal with their editing, in which case the editor often rewrites/rewords lines in their entirety. Many groups have the translator or translation checker view the episode with the edited subtitles to ensure that the editor has not accidentally changed the meaning of a line. Fansub editors on the whole do not require high-level English education, as the dialogue lines are of course not extremely complex.[ citation needed]


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